The present invention relates to an improvement in animal traps and particularly to an improvement in animal traps for catching land animals, typically called leg-hold traps.
Trapping has been an essential industry in the United States since the beginning of the colonization of America. The spring-loaded leg-hold trap has been a mainstay of the trapping industry for the past one-hundred years. The typical leg-hold trap has two jaws which are forceably spread apart, thereby loading a spring. The jaws are then retained in the open position by a trigger mechanism which includes a trap-pan release mechanism. Upon depressing the trap pan, the trigger is released and the two jaws are driven together in an upward motion by the energy of the loaded spring. One of the most well-known types of trap is the Victor trap, made by the Animal Trap Company, Lititz, Pa. This type of trap is excellent for trapping fur bearing animals, such as fox.
There are various techniques followed in setting the trap, in order to disguise it so that the animal will unwittingly step on the trap pan and trip the spring-loaded jaws. In setting a trap, it is essential that no human odors or traces remain. Accordingly, the trap must be not only set in a clean manner, and be totally disguised from the animal, but there must also be some lure or scent placed on or near the trap to attract the animal.
There are various types of sets for a trap and typically all of these land sets require the trap to be placed slightly below the ground level and then dirt or the like sifted over top of the trap, to hide it from the vision of the animal. Of course, in sifting dirt on top of the trap, it is necessary to prevent the dirt from lodging beneath the flat metal pan, which must be depressed in order to actuate the trap. It is currently the technique of most trappers to place a piece of wax paper, plastic, or the like over the flat metal trap pan or pedal. This wax paper will prevent the dirt used to cover the trap, from lodging underneath the pan and preventing the trap from throwing or actuating. Various problems are involved in using this technique to prevent the dirt from getting beneath the pan, one of which is that it is possible for the trapper to accidentally set off the trap while he is placing the wax paper or plastic over the trap pan. Additionally, since the paper or plastic placed on the pan creates a different type of base surface for the dirt which is to be sifted over the trap, quite frequently the dirt on the paper will dry at a different rate than the dirt on the rest of the trap, and the pan and its covering will become a different shade than the surrounding earth, thereby providing a visual indication to the animal that there is something beneath the dirt surface. Also, when wax paper or plastic is used as a trap pan cover, it will permit the odor from the freshly dug dirt where the trap is set to come out around the edge of the cover and the animal quite frequently will then dig around the edge of the cover and set off the trap in such a manner that it will not be captured.
Another disadvantage in the use of the well-known flat trap pan is that, since the trap is covered with fine dirt, the space beneath the pan must be kept free of dirt, when the pan is tramped on by the animal, the animal will feel a dead-fall type of action and the animal may immediately pull back prior to the snapping shut of the jaws. In other words, the animal will detect the sensation that there is nothing beneath the trap, i.e., no dirt resistance and the normal resistance of the ground to walking will be quite different when walking into the trap and the animal may react quickly enough to prevent its leg from being caught by the trap. An empty trap is a disappointment to a trapper.